Bridle Gossip T&L Style
by Hyena king
Summary: When the Mane six are Plagued with a strange curse, It's up to Thunder and Lightning to help them get back to normal. Title and Summary sucks I know, but the Story's good, I promise.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Hyena King here! This is my second story, basically, it's the MLP episode "Bridle Gossip" with Thunder and Lightning helping out. I,d like to thank DJ Scales for giving me this idea. Well, without further ado, Here's chapter one. Enjoy!**

****"A little to the left." Thunder said as he hefted the large boulder. The neon-blue maned, black-furred pegasus and his brother, Lightning, were currently moving a large boulder that had fallen onto the road moving into Ponyville. The Brothers had taken it upon themselves to move the boulder before anypony got hurt from it.(Not that it really mattered cause for some reason nopony was out on the road.) The pegasi had been at it all day and had managed to move it toward the curb. The thing was, Thunder had suddenly decided to try to carefully place the boulder on the curb to make it more organized to the annoyance of Lightning.

"Does it matter which way we move it? Just put it on the curb!" Lightning said, eager to drop the heavy stone before his muscles gave out. "Of course it does! We need to make sure that it doesn't roll back on the road, don't we?" Thunder responded.

After a little while, both pegasi's respective strength gave out and dropped the boulder, which went rolling into a nearby stream. Deciding it was a job well done, the brothers flew towards Ponyville, wondering what else needed doing. When they reached the town, however, they noticed something odd. There was no pony in sight. It looked like a ghost town for all the world knew.

"It's quiet." Lightning said, swerving his head to look around. "To quiet." Thunder agreed. "Where is everypony?" Thunder asked after a few seconds. "Maybe there's a carnival?" Lightning suggested. "I don't know. Something doesn't feel right." Thunder responded. "Yeah, no kidding" The silence was starting to freak Lightning out. Suddenly, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. It just happened to be Twilight Sparkle and her dragon assistant spike.

"Hey, there's twilight." Lightning said after confirming the pony's identity. "Maybe she knows what's going on." Thunder nodded in agreement and they both made their way to her. "Hey Twilight!" Thunder said "You wouldn't happen to know where everypony is, would you?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Twilight responded "Frankly, you're the first ponies I've seen all day."

"Maybe they all ran from Lightning's face!" Spike said, laughing at his own wit. "Naw, it was probably you breath!" Lightning responded to his scaly rival. They both growled at each other while Twilight and Thunder rolled their eyes at their comrade's immaturity. "Seriously though, do you think it could be...Zombies!" Spike cried suddenly. This earned him blank stares from the ponies.

"Uh, not very likely." Twilight said. "Not likely, but possible?" Spike asked, fear starting to creep into his voice. Thunder noticed Lightning was looking around nervously. "What're you doing?" Thunder asked. "Just making sure they're no zombies around." Lightning responded. Thunder hoof-slapped his face in response.

"Psst" said an unknown voice. The ponies all turned their attention to the entrance of Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie Pie suddenly poked her head out of the door window. "Twilight." She said then ducked back inside. She repeated this process as she said "Spike" "Thunder" "Lightning" "Come here!" at this she gestured with her hoof for the group to come inside. "Come here!" Pinkie repeated. "Hurry, before she gets you!" Not waiting for anymore prompting, Thunder, Lightning, Twilight and Spike went inside the store.

It was pitch black for a moment before a flashlight illuminated the room, Temporarily blinding the ponies who were outside just a moment ago. "Who, the Zombie Pony?" Spike suddenly asked. The flashlight suddenly flashed under the face of Pinkie Pie. "Zombie Pony?" she asked, the flashlight giving her a frighting appearance that effectivly terrified the dragon. "Spike there are no zombie ponies." Twilight said to her terrified assistant.

"Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?" Thunder asked with a raised eyebrow. "I,m not alone in the dark." Pinkie Pie responded. "OK, Hang on a minute." Lightning said, adopting a face of complete concentration. Within moments, Lightning's golden mane sparked and glowed, illuminating the whole room to reveal Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and her sister Applebloom. "Hey guys, how's it go-" The rest of what Lightning had to say was lost as the mares suddenly dog piled him, extinguishing the light he gave off.

"what,re you doing, trying to give us away?!" Applejack asked as she held Lightning's head down. "OK, what are you all doing in the dark?" Twilight asked as Thunder gently pushed the mares off Lightning and helped him to his hooves.

"We're hiding from her." Applejack responded, pointing out the window. The ponies all looked out the window to behold a Strange cloaked figure who was digging in the ground. The figure suddenly turned to look at them with strange glowing eyes. The ponies, with the exception of Twilight, Thunder and Lightning, all shrank back and hid in fear. As Twilight gave them all a look of disapproval, Lightning suddenly spoke up.

"So, it's not Zombie ponies?" he asked in all seriousness. Thunder hoof-slapped his face in response.

**And there you go. Not to bad huh? I know you guys have wanted me to write linger chapters and I hope I did better then last time in that regard. R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Hyena king here! In this second chapter, the ponies (Thunder and Lightning included.) argue about what to do with the strange visitor. You probably could have figured this out by yourselves, but I had to say something. So, without further ado, here's chapter 2!**

"Did you see her Twilight?" asked a terrified Apple Bloom , "Did you see...Zecora?" "Apple bloom, I told you not to say that name!" Applejack reprimanded Apple bloom.

"Well, I saw her glance this way." Twilight responded. "Glance _evilly _this way!" Pinkie corrected, taking on a more dramatic look. "And then a bunch of you flip out for no good reason." Twilight continued undeterred from Pinkie's interruption.**  
**

"Yeah, I don't get it," Lightning spoke up. "I was expecting some horrible beast or something, not a pony in a hood." "I agree with Lightning." Thunder said, "There doesn't seem to be a reason for any alarm over this."

"You call protecting your kin no reason?" Applejack responded, "Why as soon as my sister saw Zecora arrive in town, she started shaking in her little horseshoes." As she said this, she started to shake Apple bloom for emphasis. "Did not!" Apple bloom objected as she was being shaken. "So I swept her up and brought her here." Applejack finished, completely ignoring Apple Bloom. "I came walked here myself!" Apple Bloom protested. "For protection!" responded Applejack.

"Applejack, I,m not a baby! I can take care of myself."

"Not from that creepy Zecora!"

"Can we please get back on subject?" Thunder said, stopping the sister's quarrel. "Now, why are you guys so afraid of Zecora?"

"She's mysterious." Fluttershy responded.

"And sinister." Rainbow chimed in.

"And spooky!" Pinkie added with a wide-eyed stare. Thunder, Lightning and Twilight looked at each other, then turned towards the window to get a better look, along with the rest of the ponies. They peeked out the window just in time to see the strange pony take off her hood, revealing a striped, mo-hawked head, drawing gasps from all but three of the ponies.

"Will you guys cut it out?" Twilight said with an annoyed look. "Look at those stripes," Rarity said, taking on her fashion diva persona,"simply garish." "Wouldn't know about that," Lightning responded to her, "Those stripe look really good on her."

"She's a zebra." Twilight said, a little annoyed at how things were going. "A what?!" everypony, including Thunder and Lightning asked. "A zebra" Twilight repeated. "And those stripes aren't a fashion choice, Rarity and Lightning, those are what she was born with." This proclamation caused Rarity to faint while lightning gave her a dead-pan look.

"Born where?" asked Applejack. "I've never seen a pony like that before, except _her._" "She probably wasn't born here." "And she's not a pony." Thunder suddenly said, stopping Twilight from continuing. "Zebra's come from a far away land, but it's not known where and she's probably new around these parts."

"How do you know so much about zebras." asked Lightning with a raised eyebrow. "I read it in a book once." Thunder responded. "I wonder where she lives?" Twilight said after getting over the shock of Thunder's proclamation. "That's just it." Applejack said with terror in her eyes. "She lives in...the EverFree forest!"

The room suddenly filled with the sound of thunder. "Spike, stop it!" Twilight cried. Spike, who had been making the sound with pans and pastries, stop immediately. "Sorry." he said.

"It just ain't natural." Applejack said. "The plants grow."

"The animals tend to themselves." Fluttershy added.

"And the clouds move." Rainbow finished.

"All on their own!" the three mares said together. this caused Rarity to faint again. "And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil enchanted...stuff!" Pinkie pie cried. "Shes so evil, I even wrote a song about her."

Here we go." Rainbow said with an exasperated sigh.

(**One completely unnecessary song later.)**

Pinkie stood on her hind legs panting after her dance number. "Wow, catchy." Twilight said. "It's a work in progress." Pinkie responded.

"OK, I've heard enough." Lightning said, "I,m going to choose not to listen to all this and go out there to do what everypony else is too afraid to do. Talk to her!" With that, he began to walk to the door only to have his way barred by the rest of the ponies. "We can't let you do that Lightning." Applejack said with a determined look.

"OK, what have you guys actually seen Zecora do?" asked Twilight.

'Well," Rainbow began. "First, she comes to PonyVille." "OOHHHHH" twilight said sarcastically.

"Then, she lurks by the stores." Rarity said. "Say it ain't so!" Lightning said with a comic scared look.

"Then, she digs at the ground." Fluttershy chimed in. "Somebody call the guards! There's evil afoot!" Thunder said in a mock mare's voice. The brothers then collapsed laughing on the floor. Twilight even allowed herself a small giggle at their shenanigans.

"The point is, there's a possibility that you never thought of." Twilight said after she recovered. "She's visiting PonyVille!"

"Yeah, maybe she's just being neighborly." Apple Bloom added, standing next to Twilight. "And maybe she's not lurking, she's just shopping." Twilight continued.

"Yeah, everypony likes to shop, you know what I think...? "Apple Bloom! Hush and let the big ponies talk." Applejack said, pushing Apple Bloom aside.

"I am a big pony." Apple Bloom whispered to herself. The ponies continued to talk for a few minutes until Thunder called for quiet. "OK, this ends now. Me and Lightning are going to go out there and talk to Zecora and we can get this whole thing straightened out."

"Where's Apple Bloom?" Lightning asked almost casually. "The door's open!" Fluttershy cried, pointing out said door.

"She went outside!" Rarity cried.

"And Zecora's still out there." added Rainbow

"Oh that silly little filly! I told her to stay put!" Applejack said. With that, the ponies all ran outside to find Apple Bloom. "Spike, you stay put in case Apple Bloom comes back." Twilight instructed. "Will do!" Spike replied as she left. Thunder and Lightning exchanged worried glances then followed after the ponies.

**And there you go. If you haven't already guessed, this isn't exactly like the episode and for a reason. This was my attempt to give Thunder and Lightning a larger roll in the story then just background noise. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter nevertheless. R&R please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi! Hyena King here! This chapter is pretty self explanatory, so I won't bore you with the details. So, without further ado, here's chapter 3!**

Zecora was leaving town and heading back to Everfree, failing to notice the little filly that was following her. Apple Bloom followed close behind, resolving to talk to the zebra and prove that she was a big pony. They were both at the fringe of the forest when the sounds of voices calling Apple Bloom's name sounded and drew both of their attentions. The mane six were standing behind them in a field of blue flowers, while Thunder and Lightning were in the air, ready to act at any moment.**  
**

"You get back here right now!" Applejack said, clearly angry at her sister's rashness. Lightning quickly flew down to Apple Bloom and threw her on his back, then look Zecora straight in the eye. "And just what were you planning to do with Apple Bloom, huh?" he asked, having drawn the conclusion that Zecora was up to no good.

"Beware, beware you ponyfolk!" the zebra replied, "Those leaves of blue are not a joke!" "Yeah...well...what?" Lightning said, not sure how to respond to that. What he wasn't aware of was her words were directed at the mane six, not him. Applejack quickly joined Lightning, taking Apple Bloom on her own back.

"You keep your creepy mumbo jumbo to yourself ya hear?!" Applejack cried. The rest of the mane six shouted in agreement, with the exception of Twilight. "oh brother." was her only response. Thunder flew down and joined Lightning and Applejack, eying Zecora carefully. "Beware, Beware!" Zecora repeated, then disappeared in the growing fog.

"Yeah, right back at ya Zecora!" Rainbow cried, "You and your lame curse are the ones who should beware!" Apple Bloom gave Rainbow a look of anger, but then was faced with her sister. "And you! Why couldn't you listen to your big sister?" Applejack scolded. "I..." Apple Bloom couldn't find the right thing to say at the moment. "Who knows what kind of curse She could have just given you!" Applejack continued, not giving Apple Bloom time to respond.

"Just like my song!" Pinkie suddenly cried. She was about to start singing again when Lightning threw a cupcake he procured out of nowhere into her mouth. "Guys, there's no such thing as curses!" Twilight said, once again getting annoyed at her friends antics.

"Well, that's interesting coming from miss magic-pants herself!" Rainbow pointed out, poking Twilight's horn to empathize. "My magic, real magic, comes from within." Twilight corrected, "It's a skill your born with. Curses are artificial, fake magic. It's all conjured with potions and incantations, all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. curses have no real power, they're just an old pony tale." After her long explanation, Twilight was greeted with the sight of the rest of the ponies leaving.

"Just you wait Twilight." Applejack warned, "Some pony tales really are true." With that, everypony was gone instead of Twilight, Thunder and Lightning. "I'll head home now." Twilight said with a sigh of resignation. "OK, see you tomorrow." Thunder replied. Soon only Thunder and Lightning remained in the fringe.

"So what do you think Zecora was trying to do to Apple Bloom?" Lightning asked Thunder.

"Oh, don't tell me you're believing all this nonsense too." Thunder replied.

"Not necessarily the curse part, but you can't ignore the fact that she was up to something. How're we supposed to protect those mares like Princess Celestia asked us to if we ignore threats like that?

"We won't do it by jumping to conclusions either."

They were both silent for a moment, then Lightning said, "I,m hungry. Let's get something to eat." With that, the brother flew up and went back to Ponyville, never once having touched the blue flowers in the field. In the now empty clearing, a shadowy figure suddenly came out of the tree line, chuckling in a strange, unearthly voice.

"Oh, my little elements. After two thousand years of searching, you're finally within my grasp." He said. "Soon we will be reunited and all of Equestria shall fall before me. Once I've ripped you out of the insignificant mares bodies that is!" with that, the strange figure began to laugh uproariously while the blue flowers suddenly began bursting into flame, which were put out to reveal nothing but ash and no other evidence that the figure had been there.

The next morning, Twilight awoke from a nightmare involving curses, Zecora, and Pinkie dancing. She walked over to the mirror and found her mane in a mess from tossing and turning last night. "Whoa, maybe Zecora cursed my hair." Twilight said, laughing a bit at her own wit. As she brushed her mane, she stopped and noticed something. To her ever increasing horror, it was her horn. Only it was now wiggling and limp and covered in polka dots.

"Or she cursed my horn!" Twilight cried, her voice filled with shock.

**There you have it. Don't worry, the strange figure you just read about as nothing to do with the rest of the story. He's just a spoiler for an upcoming original story that will take place after this and at least one more non-canon story. Hope your interest has been peeked! R&R please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! Hyena King here! This chapter basically shows what happened to the various ponies with the shocking exception of Thunder and Lightning. Well, Without further ado, here's chapter 4!  
**

"You think Twilight's gonna appreciate all the new books we got her?" Thunder asked as he and Lightning walked on towards the library, with boxes of books on their backs. "How should I know?" Lightning replied, "This was _your _idea, remember?" Lightning was more then a little peeved at having to carry these heavy boxes all the way to the library. This was not how he had wanted to spend the day. But no, Thunder just had to think of this little scam and have them drag themselves here then go on patrol to more pressing matters, like fighting monsters or something.

"Come on Lightning" Thunder said with a sigh, "As soon as we're done here, I'll buy us some cinnamon rolls." "You better for the trouble we're going through." Lightning responded. "Hey, Twilight!" Thunder said as he opened the library's door. "We got some-" the rest of what Thunder was going to say was cut off as he and Lightning found themselves staring at the mane six.

The ponies that stared back at them weren't exactly "normal" to say the least. Twilight's horn was dangling and limp, not to mention covered in polka dots. Pinkie's tongue was swollen and orange, also with polka dots. Rarity look like she took a bath in Rogaine, long strands of her fur hanging to the floor. Applejack was the size of a mouse and was, in fact, riding atop her "little" sister Apple Bloom. While there was nothing obviously wrong with Rainbow, she shouldn't have been laying on a pile of books and stuck in a ladder like that. And Fluttershy, poor Fluttershy? Well, actually she looked pretty normal.

The brothers just stared for a heartbeat. Then Lightning burst out laughing and collapsed on the floor, dropping his box of books as he did. Thunder held his hoof to his mouth to stop himself, but to no avail. Thunder burst out laughing and joined Lightning on the floor. Their laughter stopped when a book struck Lightning, making him yelp in pain.

"This isn't funny!" An infuriated Applejack cried. "OK, what happened?" Thunder asked recovering from his fit. Lightning simply got up, rubbing his head and growling under his breath.

"We were cursed!" Rainbow cried winning free of the ladder. Her condition became apparent as she flew around erratically, nearly crashing into everything. Lightning reached up and grabbed her, steadying her in mid-air. "And" Rainbow continued, "We'll find the cure to this at Zecora's place." "It's not a curse!" Twilight said, peeved at the mares conclusions.

"I agree with Rainbow." Applejack said simply, "we'll go there and make her lift this hex!" "It's not a hex either!" Twilight said, no even angrier. "Well, if it's not a curse, then what is it?" Lightning asked. As he did, he tied Rainbow's tail to a chair, keeping her in place.

"I,m not sure but..." Something suddenly dawned on Twilight. "Hey aren't you and Thunder having problems?" The pegasi stared for a minute. Then they examined themselves, looking for anything out of the ordinary. When none were found, They looked back at Twilight. "No" they both said.

"Strange." Twilight said. Before she could ask further, Rainbow suddenly spoke up. "I don't care what you say Twilight! It's time to pony up and confront Zecora! Who's with me!"

"I am!" Pinkie said, though her tongue made the statement almost incomprehensible. "And I as well." Rarity said simply

"I don't know." Fluttershy said, "It sounds really dangerous." Her problem became apparent as it was revealed that her normal, sweet voice was now deep and practically manlike. It was all the boys could do to keep from falling into another laughing fit. "What about you guys?" Rainbow asked turning to the brothers.

"Of course we are!" Lightning cried. "I don't think we should jump to conclusions." Thunder said. He was going to say more, but Rainbow had accepted Lightning's answer and had turned away, not even bothering to hear Thunder. "How bout you Applejack? Applejack?" The reason that she was no longer responding became apparent rather quickly. "She's gone!" Pinkie said, spittle flying as she said it. "Or somepony stepped on her!" Rarity cried. Soon, everypony was checking their hooves to see if that might have occured. Twilight's eyes went wide as she considered a more horrid possibilitiy.

"Or sat on her!" With that, everypony checked their flanks for any sign of flattened pony. Lightning caught a glimsp of Rainbow and looked at her flank, a big grin on his face. Thunder saw Lightning's expression and smacked him upside the head. Lightning rubbed his head and growled, but otherwise said nothing. After checking Rarity's now overgrown hair, much to the unicorn's discomfort, Twilight noticed something else.

"Apple Bloom is gone too.!" "I bet they went after Zecora!" Rainbow said. "Then we better look for them. Come on guys!" As they left, Thunder helped by lefting Pinkie up when her hoof caught one of Rarity's overlong locks. Lightning, on the other hand, grabbed hold of Rainbow and guided her out of the Library.

**There you go. I realized that I had completely forgotten about Spike, but I'm posting this anyway as I saw it as inconsequential. Lightning's little "indescrition" is based of a scene in "Madagascar 3, Europe's most wanted." You know which one I mean. R&R please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! Hyena king here! Once again, this is a pretty self explanatory chapter, so I won't waste any time on describing it. So, without further ado, here's chapter 5!  
**

"Come on guys!, we got to get to Zecora's!" Twilight said as the ponies were running through Everfree forest. Rarity suddenly tripped over one of her overlong locks, becoming filthy as she skidded across the ground. Thunder immediately came to her side, helping her on her hooves. "Easier said then done." Rarity commented as she regained her footing. "You're telling me." Thunder replied. They then went to catch up with the others, Thunder guiding Rarity the whole time.

Rainbow and Lightning weren't doing so well either. "Left! no, my left!" Lightning shouted as she crashed through the trees and brush. As Rainbow was about to crash into a large tree, Lightning flew up to catch her, but ended up crashing into her and they both tumbled to the ground. Lightning gave an audible groan as something popped out of Rainbow's mouth. It was no other then Applejack. "Rainbow!" she cried getting on the ground. "Thanks for rescuing me! there's no time to lose!"

With that, Applejack made a makeshift harness from sticks and vines and jumped onto Rainbow's belly. "Getty up little pony!" Applejack cried. "Excuse me?" Rainbow asked, clearly offended by Applejack's statement. Applejack didn't give her time to answer, but with a "Yee haw!" She made Rainbow fly into the air and head towards Zecora's place. Lightning, who was recovering from the crash, got up in time to see Applejack ride away on Rainbow. He stared for a few seconds at the strange spectacle, then shrugged and followed after them.

Meanwhile, the rest of the ponies made it to Zecora's a house built inside of a tree. "Oh, I look horrible!" Rarity cried. "No, that look's horrible!" Pinkie said though you couldn't actually tell on first hearing. She lifted Rarity's hair so she could get a better look. "Oh, you're right, that does look horrible." she said as she beheld the decor of the house. As Twilight went up to the house, Lightning suddenly appeared beside Thunder.

"I thought you were helping Rainbow." Thunder said, surprised to see his brother. "Oh, don't worry. she's right behind me." Lightning responded, looking backwards with a wince. The ponies crept up to the house and looked through one of the windows. "Nice place." Thunder commented, admiring the masks and candles decorating the place. "If you like creepy!" Rarity said.

The front door suddenly opened and Zecora appeared. The ponies, with the exception of pinkie, Thunder and Lightning, gasped and ducked down. Thunder and Lightning, on the other hand, squeezed closer to the window to get a better look. The zebra, now without her cloak, emptied a pot of it's unrecognizable contents into a bubbling cauldron, then began to say several verses that were in some language none of the ponies could understand.

Pinkie suddenly began to shout something, clearly irritated for some reason. "She stole your song?" Rarity translated. "Oh, Pinkie, it doesn't sound anything like your song." Twilight pointed out. Pinkie, frustrated at the ponies misunderstanding, went to her knees in front of Fluttershy, her eyes pleading. Fluttershy sighed, then began to sing in her manly voice.

(**Another completely unnecessary song later.)**

"You saw those terrible looking things." Rarity said to Twilight, "No do you believe us." "It's proof enough for me." Lightning suddenly said preparing to charge into the house. "Come on Thunder!" Before he could do so, however, he was stopped by Thunder. "Hang on. There's got to be some reasonable explanation for this. Right Twilight?"

With that, he turned to Twilight, encouragement in his eyes. Twilight thought it over. "Masks, confusing incantations and a bubbling caldron." Twilight's face began to drop. "Oh, everything is pointing to Zecora being bad." Twilight then noticed Thunder's face as his eyes took on a disappointed look.

"Or, maybe she's just making soup!" Twilight suggested optimistically. As if on cue, Zecora smacked her lips audibly. "The perfect temperature for ponies, I presume." She said, then looked around her house. "Now where is that little Apple Bloom."

"Or, what if she's making Apple Bloom soup!" Twilight said, a horrified look in her eyes.

**And there you go. Due to a short time window, I hope you'll forgive me if this Chapter is a little short. Hope you enjoyed it nevertheless. R&R please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! Hyena King here! Well, what can I say. This will probably wrap up the story, so I won't bore you with anything less. Well, without further ado, here's chapter 6!  
**

The ponies all looked at each other for a moment after Twilight's proclamation. Then all the mares screamed, causing Thunder and Lightning to cover their ears and wince in pain. At that same moment, Applejack and her upside down pegasus steed came hurtling forward. "I,m coming for you Apple Bloom!" she cried. The two mares crashed through the front door, much to the surprise of Zecora, then began to crash into everything in the house, creating one big mess.

"That's it!" Lightning cried. With that, he ran into the house, the other ponies right behind him. Zecora, who was trying to give directions to the chaotic duo that were Rainbow and Applejack, was greeted by Lightning's angry face. "OK, what'd you do with Apple Bloom?!" Lightning demanded. At that moment, Rainbow's latest crash caused a mask to fall off the wall onto Lightning's head. "Hey, who turned out the lights?! I can't see!"

Lightning began to flail about, knocking over tables, jars and basically causing a bigger mess then there already was. Thunder gave a groan and went to help Lightning. Meanwhile, Applejack jumped of Rainbow and began to assault Zecora's ear, while Rainbow still flew around uncontrollably. Unaffected by Applejack's attack Zecora turned to the other ponies.

"Ponies! what is this-?" before she could finish her sentence, Rainbow flew by, knocking over the caldron and spilling it's contents. "No! You know not what you do! you've gone and spilled my brew!"

"Where on to you Zecora." Twilight said, determination on her face. "I didn't want to believe you cursed us, but the evidence is overwhelming."

"You made me look ridiculous." Rarity said, pointing out her hair. "You made me sound ridiculous." Fluttershy added with her manly voice. Pinkie said something incomprehensible, but her meaning was clear. "You ruined my horn!" Twilight said, pointing out the floppy thing. "And we're here to seek justice!" Lightning cried, talking to the wall. Thunder removed the mask and turned him around to face Zecora.

"How dare you!" Zecora cried, outraged. "You destroy my home! You destroy my work! And you falsely accuse me of being a jerk!" "You put this curse on us! Now you're gonna uncurse us!" Rainbow said, having recovered from her erratic flight.

"It is unwise to venture down this road. You're actions will make my anger explode!"

The brothers suddenly appeared, putting themselves between Zecora and the mane six. "You try anything and we'll tear you apart!" Lightning said, an angry look about him. "Look, we don't want trouble, just answer one question." Thunder said, looking a lot calmer then his golden-maned brother. "And that would be?" Zecora asked, clearly trying to keep her anger under control.

"Where's Apple Bloom?" Twilight asked, looking ready to attack the zebra. "Zecora, I think I've found all the things you asked for." Apple Bloom said walking in from out of nowhere. "What in tar nation is going on here?" she asked as she looked around the room.

Applejack ceased her attack on Zecora's ear and gasped. "Apple Bloom! You're OK!" "Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Apple Bloom responded. "Because Zecora's an evil enchantress and was going to cook you into soup!" Twilight said, putting herself in front of Apple Bloom.

There was a brief silence. Then Zecora and Apple Bloom started to laugh, to the surprise of all the ponies. "Oh Twilight," Apple Bloom said, "did those silly fillies finally get to your head? You know there's no such thing as a curse."

Lightning suddenly spoke up. "OK, I,m completely lost." "No surprise there." Thunder said, ticking Lightning off. "Apple Bloom, sweetie, you can't tell me that this isn't a curse." Twilight said, indicating the rest of the mares. "This isn't a curse." Apple Bloom said, walking up to Zecora.

"If you remember back, the words I said were quite exact." Zecora said simply. The ponies took a moment as they remembered the strange rhythm that they thought was the zebra cursing them. "It was a warning," Apple Bloom continued, "About that blue plant. It's called Poison Joke."

"It's much like Poison Oak, except it's results are like a joke." Zecora explained. "What the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked confused.

"It means that this plant does not reek wrath. Instead, it just wants a laugh."

"What?" Lightning asked, only more confused by Zecora's answer. "Will somepony please talk normal?" Applejack said, trying to make sense of it as well. "I think what she's saying is that when we ran in to save Apple Bloom, we ran into the Poison Joke." Twilight explained, "our problems are just little joke that it played on us." "_Little_ jokes! Very funny." Applejack said, quite angry about the whole situation

"That explains why we weren't affected." Thunder said, putting it all together. "OK, fine." Rainbow said. "but what about the caldron?"

"And the chanting?" Fluttershy added.

"And the creepy decor?" Rarity chimed in.

"Treasures from the native land where I am from." Zecora said, indicating to masks on the floor, one of which had blinded Lightning earlier. "This on says "hello", and this one "welcome."

"Not welcoming at all, if you ask me." Rarity said simply.

"the words I chanted were from ancient times, something you would call a nursery rhyme."

"But the caldron, the Apple Bloom soup?" Twilight asked, still skeptical on the whole thing. "Looky here, Twilight." Apple Bloom said, taking out a green book. "It wasn't for me, it was for all this herbal ingredients. The cure for Poison Joke is an all natural remedy. You just got to take a bubble bath."

"But I tried to find a book in all my books and couldn't find anything." Twilight said, looking through the book and it's contents. "What book has this all natural remedy."

Zecora came up and indicated the cover. "Here is the book, you see. Sad that you lack it in the Library."

"Actually, I do have this book," Twilight admitted, "But I didn't look inside it because the title was so...weird." Zecora pointed out the title, which Twilight read out loud. Supernaturals, naturals and remedies that are simply super. "They should probably rename that." Thunder said, thinking that the title was very misleading. Twilight looked at Zecora with embarrasment."I...I... I'm so sorry Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I had bothered to look inside."

Zecora simply chuckled. "Maybe next time you'll take a closer look and not judge the cover of the book." Apple Bloom laughed a little. "let me get this straight." Lightning suddenly said. "This whole mess was caused by a plant with a sense of humor and this could have all been avoided by reading a book?' Zecora nodded, causing Lightning to groan loudly. "And here I was thinking that there was something evil actually going on." Thunder rolled his eyes. "That's what you get for jumping to conclusions." he said, a triumphant smile on his face, which caused Lightning's already foal mood to darken.

"Zecora, would you be kind enough to make another batch of your herbal bath?" Twilight asked, a humble look about her face.

"Another batch, I certainly will. But I,m missing an herb from Ponyville." "But whenever Zecora comes into town, all the shops mysteriously close." Apple Bloom explained. "I think we can help with that." Twilight said, smiling. As the ponies, Zecora included, left for Ponyville, Thunder pulled Lightning aside. "Come on, I've got an Idea that just might help." With that, he flew further into the forest, Lightning trailing behind.

Later, the mares were in a giant bath tub, the thing filled to the brim with Zecora's herbal remedy. They all rejoiced as their various aliments went away. They were just laughing at a close call that had them thinking that they had squashed Applejack when Thunder and Lightning came in, each one holding a bouquet of blue flowers.

"We thought that we'd bring you something to help the healing process." Thunder said, a big smile on his face, matched only by Lightning's grin. Instead of the happy faces they expected to see, however, the mares faces were alight with horror.

"Guys, that's the Poison Joke!" Twilight cried. The brothers looked at each other, then at the flowers, then at the mares. "Uh oh" was all they could say. Then they disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Thunder and Lightning looked completely different. Thunder was now neon-blue with a black mane while Lightning was golden with a white mane.

There was silence for a moment. Then both pegasi flew up and nose dived into the tub, splashing all the mane six, who were laughing as the brothers proceeded to scrub themselves, trying to rid themselves of their affliction.

**There you have it. I was not pleased by my earlier work on this chapter, so I fixed it and reposted it. This is the result. I hope this is a lot better than my earlier attempt. R&r Please!**


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